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1 | Name | Genre | Recent Title/Staff Level (TV) | Relevant Credits | Development / Samples | Brief Bio | Written/Spoken Languages | Contact Info | Website/Social Media | |
2 | Afsana Ahmed | half hour comedy, sketch | Writer/Writers Assistant | Writers Assistant for "Who Made The Potato Salad?" sketch show | Amena: (half hour comedy) Writer and creator of "Amena". Amena Abbas is a 19 year old Queens Native. She finds herself struggling with the delicate balancing act of living with her strict but loving Muslim parents and trying to have the quintessential college experience while going to a CUNY. She navigates friendships and relationships while figuring out what it means to be Bengali and a New Yorker. KATM (comedy webseries) Co-creator of KATM, or Kids at the Mosque, a 2006 comedy period piece following five Muslim kids as they find themselves enrolled in the summer masjid program, getting ready for Ramadan and the annual masjid kids competition. | Afsana Ahmed if a Bengali- American Muslim writer and comedian from Queens, New York. She graduated from The City College of New York with a degree in English. She has written satire for Reductress, and has published comedic poetry in Promethean Literary Journal. In 2019, she won the Riggs Gold Medal award for her personal essay, "I Don't Have A Birthday". She writes half hour comedy, sketches, and short fiction. She is currently a writer for Loyal Nana magazine, an editorial associate for Fiction Inc Magazine, and the Writers Assistant for sketch show WMTPS. | Bengali, English | afsanaahmed8364@gmail.com | Twitter: @existentialkale | |
3 | Aisha Bhoori | Hour-long drama, half-hour dramedy and comedy | Story Editor | Story Editor on STAIRCASE (HBOMax) and Staff Writer on upcoming Disney+ show | THE NIGHT OF POWER (short fiction): On the holiest night of the Islamic calendar, a friendship dissolves and a wayward son returns home to Brooklyn. A WOMAN LIKE MAASI (short fiction): During her first trip to Pakistan, a teenager befriends her uncle’s outcast wife and grapples with her sexuality. GEMINI (short fiction): An unlikely love triangle forms as a millennial Muslim must navigate between her affair with an older woman from work and her engagement to a man chosen by her parents. Zara (short fiction): In a ménage à trois far different from those in the Bollywood epics she grew up watching, Maryam comes of age sexually, creatively, and spiritually as she tutors her older brother’s girlfriend. | Aisha Bhoori is a Los Angeles-based writer and recent graduate of Harvard, where she was a three-time recipient of the Edward Eager Memorial Fund Prize for best creative writing, the Harvard Monthly Prize for demonstrating greatest literary promise, and the David McCord Prize for Unusual Creative Talent in the Arts. Her short fiction and journalism have been featured in TIME, Nashville Review, and The Harvard Advocate, among others. | English | Adam Klein: Adam@grandviewla.com Gabrielle Lewis: gabrielle@grandviewla.com | https://www.aishabhoori.com/ | |
4 | Aizzah Fatima | half hour comedy, hour long drama, features | Writer, creator, actor | American.ish (comedy feature writer, actor, producer). Co-creator of Muslim Girls DTF: Discuss Their Faith, a digital series about the trials and tribulations of being an American Muslim woman. DIRTY PAKI LINGERIE a one woman play. Sex, religion, and politics collide as six American Muslim Pakistani women air their dirty lingerie... | Americanish (comedy feature) Sundance Writer's Lab finalist and in post production. Co-creator of Muslim Girls DTF:Discuss Their Faith. BROAD MINDED (half hour comedy) two female academics a Muslim and a Jew have to co-teach a class on religion despite their differences. | Aizzah Fatima has been featured on NPR, The Guardian, Women’s Hour (BBC), The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Huffington Post. Acting TV credits: Mr. Robot (USA Network), High Maintenance (HBO), The Good Wife (CBS), The Code (CBS), Patrice O’Neal’s 'Guide to White People (Comedy Central), Matae Jaan (HUMtv Pakistan). Her comedy one woman play titled 'Dirty Paki Lingerie' has toured all over the world including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and a 15 city tour in the UK in 2016. The play was invited by the US State Department for a four city tour in Pakistan, and the only play to represent the United States at the International Theater Festival of Turkmenistan in 2014. She co-produced the feature film 'Horror Time' with James Franco, and co-created the webseries Muslim Girls DTF: Discuss Their Faith. She is the recipient of a Doris Duke grant with Brooklyn's Children Theatre where she aided in creating the first ever children's muslicams with Muslim protagonists. The plays are currently being performed at schools and performing arts venues throughout the US. | English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi. | Sana Hanible @ Steinberg Management | www.AizzahFatima.com @aizzahfatima (IG, Twitter) | |
5 | Amal Dalmar | Comdey and Documentary | Writer/Director /Digitial Producer | I'LL GO IF YOU GO: A coming of age comedy that centers around a Muslim girl in her late twenties, stuck in the mundane routine of her uninspired life. After a whirlwind weekend, she finds herself on a road trip up the California coast with 3 strangers she meets at a wedding. The choices she makes on the trip, redefine her life forever. THAT MUSLIM SHOW:A dark comedy about a Muslim-American group of friends from diverse backgrounds living in San Diego, California, comically navigate identity, friendship and growing pains against a backdrop of heightened Islamophobia in America. After their local imam is found to be a long time informant, the group of friends must decide how to precede in a community that is just too tired to care anymore. | Amal Dalmar is a writer, director, creative director and digital media content creator. After completing her law degree, she began working at Buzzfeed as a digital content producer. Her work includes pieces on identity, fashion and lifestyle. She is the executive director and co-producer of the upcoming docuseries 'Hidden Gems' exploring ethnic enclaves in the Los Angeles area, set to debut in late 2019. She is from San Diego, California. | English/Somali | amal.dalmar@gmail.com | @amaldalmar (twitter) | ||
6 | Amina Munir | Half hour comedy, half hour dramedy | Executive Story Editor | Untitled Mindy Kaling/Lang Fisher Project (ESE), Happy Together (Story Editor), LA to Vegas (Staff Writer), Champaign Ill (Staff Writer) | Amina is a TV writer from New Jersey whose credits include Untitled Mindy Kaling/Lang Fisher Project, LA to Vegas, Champaign Ill, and Happy Together. She attended Northwestern University where she directed and performed in their esteemed improv group, Mee-Ow (alumni including Seth Meyers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Kristen Schaal). While there, she was selected by Comedy Central to participate in their Summer School program founded by Chris Rock. Upon graduating, she worked at Funny or Die, eventually writing and performing in sketches. When not creating elegant and timeless content, Amina can be found reading the backs of energy bars at Whole Foods. | English | ||||
7 | Ariana Delawari | Drama, Comedy, Dramedy, Surreal, Fantasy, Political, Documentary | Writer/Producer/Director | Producer/Director of documentary feature film "We Came Home" - TIME, Writer/Director short film "Entelechy", Writer "Untitled Pilot" | TV & Film samples available upon request | Ariana Delawari is an Afghan American filmmaker, musician, and activist. She is a graduate of USC School of Cinematic arts. "We Came Home", her award winning documentary feature length film about Afghanistan, was released by TIME last November. "We Came Home" is a 10-year documentation of her father’s post 9/11 homeland. The film is a culmination of this documentation, her family story, and the making of her album "Lion of Panjshir". "Lion of Panjshir" was recorded in both Kabul and Los Angeles. Delawari collaborated with a few American band mates and three Afghan elder master musicians. The album was partially produced and mixed by filmmaker David Lynch. Lynch released the critically acclaimed album on his record label. Ariana was a performer and speaker at the inaugural TEDx Kabul. She started a movement within Afghan youth culture called “Inspire Peace”. Ariana co-created an app called Afghanistan Connect with Afghanistan's Code to Inspire. Ariana recently wrote and directed a surreal docu musical film called "Entelechy" about climate change that opened Marfa Film Festival last year. Ariana collaborated with filmmaker/writer Jill Soloway in writing and performing a song for a character she was playing on the show "I Love Dick". | English, Dari (not fluent) | arianadelawari1@gmail.com | www.arianadelawari.com, @arianadelawari (instagram and twitter) | |
8 | Asil Moussa | Drama/Comedy | Writer, Director, Actress | The Card (short film - writer, director, actor), Mangoes (TV Show- actor), Lost in the Pines (feature film script - writer) | Lost in the Pines (still in development): A 13-year-old girl and her father go on a camping trip, but he gets severely injured in a canoe crash so she has to walk 100 miles through the forest to save his life. On her journey, she battles wolves, becomes allies with a stray dog, and resolves her inner wounds about her mother's death. | Asil Moussa is an actor, writer, director, producer. She wrote, directed, produced, and stars in her short film, The Card, which screened at film festivals across North America, and was a finalist for CBC’s Short Film Face Off. Asil holds a Bachelors in English Literature, Creative Writing, and Digital Journalism and a Certificate of Film Studies. She worked at Suede Productions where she produced and edited commercials for brands such as Mercedes, Daimler, and Gentherm. Asil has also acted in short and feature films, commercials, and most recently, the TV Show, Mangoes. She worked on the feature film, The Tiger Hunter, which is now on Netflix. Asil is currently co-writing a feature film script. | English, Arabic | asilmoussa17@gmail.com | https://asilmoussa.com/ | |
9 | Ayser Salman | Comedy/Dramedy | Writer/Producer/Editor | Author of "The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir" / WIF BLACKLIST LAB, PGA DIVERSITY WKSHP/HUMANITAS FELLOW | TV & Film samples available upon request | Ayser Salman was born in Iraq back before it became a curiosity and moved to the United States when she was a toddler. She spent much of her childhood in the 1970s trying to fit in among her blond-haired, blue-eyed counterparts and telling everyone to call her ‘Lisa’ because it was “just easier that way.” After shunning her parents’ dream of her becoming a doctor in favor of journalism school, Ayser worked as a news producer in Kentucky where she learned to end each sobering newscast with an uplifting clip of a cuddly rodent water skiing. From there she came to Los Angeles to produce & edit promos and original content for Miramax Films, Disney, Universal Pictures FX and The Weinstein Company...yes that company. When she’s not dodging questions of “What was it like?” Ayser writes funny things. Her book, “The Wrong End of the Table,” a comic memoir about growing up Iraqi Muslim in Kentucky was published March 5, 2019 by Skyhorse Publishing. Ayser is currently developing it as a TV series. Ayser has had sitcom pilots optioned by Fox, Humanitas Prize and one was a finalist in last year’s Austin Film Festival. She also regularly publishes online articles and essays inspired by her ‘spirited' Iraqi family and their immigrant shenanigans and seems to never run out of ideas – much to her mother’s chagrin...Ayser’s remaining spare time is devoted to speaking out against the hookah bar as a stereotypical establishment, which frankly ain’t doing Arabs any favors... To enable screen reader support, press ⌘+Option+Z To learn about keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘slash | English, Arabic | heyayser@gmail.com | www.aysersalman.com / @aysersalman (across all social media platforms) | |
10 | Fariha Róisín | feature-film, hour long drama/ half hour comedyTV | Writer/Screenwriter/Actress | A feature script in development with MACRO; lead-actress in Deema by Raghed Charabaty; lead-actress in film TBA by Whitney Horn and Lev Kalman | Available Upon Request | Fariha Róisín is a writer. She's worked as a film critic for many years, focusing on Hollywood and race. She's the host, writer and producer of an up-and-coming podcast for the Toronto Film Festival named "How To Solve A Problem Like." She's developing a script with MACRO, and is currently the writer-at-large at The Juggernaut. Her book "How To Cure A Ghost" (Abrams) comes out fall 2019. | English, Bangla, French and minimal Farsi | mofhasan@gmail.com | fariharoisin.com instagram.com/fariha_roisin | |
11 | Fatimah Asghar | feature-film, hour long drama/ half hour comedyTV | co-producer for a TV show; writer, director, author | Brown Girls Web Series (writer + Creator), If They Come for Us (book) + co-editor of Halal If You Hear Me anthology + writer and director of GOT GAME short film, TV development with HBO, Freeform & Universal TV. | Available Upon Request | Fatimah Asghar is a poet, screenwriter, educator and performer. Her work has appeared in many journals, including POETRY Magazine, Gulf Coast, BuzzFeed Reader, The Margins, The Offing, Academy of American Poets and many others. Her work has been featured on new outlets like PBS, NPR, Time, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, and others. In 2011 she created a spoken word poetry group in Bosnia and Herzegovina called REFLEKS while on a Fulbright studying theater in post-genocidal countries. She is a member of the Dark Noise Collective, a 2017 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship recipient and a Kundiman Fellow. Her chapbook After came out on Yes Yes Books fall 2015. She is the writer and co-creator of Brown Girls, an Emmy-nominated web series that highlights friendships between women of color and the writer of If They Come For Us (One World, August 2018), a collection of poems that explores the legacy of Partition and orphan-hood. Along with Safia Elhillo, she is the editor of Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket 2019), an anthology that celebrates Muslim writers who are also women, queer, gender nonconforming and/or trans. | English | Jermaine Johnson at 3Arts Entertainment | @asgharthegrouch (IG & Twitter), www.fatimahasghar.com | |
12 | Fawzia Mirza | half hour comedy/dramedy & hour dramedy | hour drama (depending on connection to material) | Writer | Creator | Actor & Staff Writer | seeking Story Editor level staffing | THE RED LINE (staff writer) | SIGNATURE MOVE (feature film, actor/co-writer/producer) | THE FIRST SESSION (writer/actor/producer) NBC Universal Short Film Festival, nominated best writer, winner, best actress (Mouzam Makkar) | SPUNKLE (co-creator | half hour comedy | set up with a major studio & producing partner) - A South Asian woman (and her wife) asks her brother to be the sperm donor, the uncle, the Spunkle, of their future baby. MEXISTANI (creator | half hour comedy | sample/pitching | Comedy Central 'Yes, and Laughter Lab' Top 40) - It's Zenith's 33rd birthday (her Jesus year!) and she's decided to run for Alderman of her Chicago neighborhood under the slogan, "A Mexican for Mexicans" only she discovers she's not as Mexican as she thinks and instead is actually 100% Pakistani. LAWYER BY DAY (creator | half hour comedy | sample) - It's 2003 and Nadia Khan's graduating law school, ready to lawyer at the top tier law firm she's been interning at, but when it suddenly goes under, Nadia's forced to take a job at a new, spin-off law firm for a lot less pay and populated by... a lot more comedians. (inspired by her real life!) JINN CITY (creator | dark/sci-fi comedy | short digital series) - Janan is a Jinn whose job is to encourage mischief-making for her Human Companion (HC), but Janan’s world is totally rocked when her HC dies and she’s reassigned, but instead of to a newborn, as is protocol, she’s reassigned to a 30-year-old dude named Aydin. ME, MY MOM & SHARMILA (creator/co-writer | SFFilm Society Grant | Creative Capital 'On Our Radar' | writing/adapting from my one-woman play | feature screenplay) - The relationship across generations and continents between a South Asian, Muslim mother in Karachi, Pakistan, her queer daughter, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and their shared love for Bollywood heroine Sharmila Tagore. DENIM DREAMS (co-creator | dark comedy/female thriller | short series) - When the bloodied denim jacket of their long-presumed dead high school crush is discovered at their 20th reunion, three former classmates reconnect to solve the mystery. | FAWZIA MIRZA is an actor, writer, creator, who believes in the power of comedy to tackle divisive topics and breakdown stereotypes. She was named one of '10 Filmmakers to Watch' (Independent Magazine), a White House ‘Champion of Change’ (Asian American Art & Storytelling), a 3Arts Grant Recipient, a ‘Top 10 Creative’ (Indiewire), and a Djerassi Program Writing Resident. She's made award-winning short films, web series and documentaries, receiving SFFILM Society’s Rainin Fellowship with co-writer Terrie Samundra to adapt her play ME, MY MOM & SHARMILA. Her first feature, SIGNATURE MOVE, which she co-wrote, produced, stars in (starring Indian film legend Shabana Azmi), world premiered at SXSW, screened 150+ film festivals, won 14 awards (Outfest Grand Jury Prize, Best US Narrative), streams on Amazon. She has two new short films world premiering in 2019, I KNOW HER, world premiering summer 2019 and FIVE TIMES A DAY about two queer, Muslim women having their first, romantic night together told through five snapshots marked by the five Muslim calls to prayer, directed by Tchaiko Omawale. She wrote for the new CBS drama series THE RED LINE, executive produced by Greg Berlanti and Ava Duvernay, writing the first ever gay, Muslim romance during primetime on network television. | English/Urdu/Hindi and some French | thefawz@gmail.com | www.fawziamirza.com | insta/twitter -- @thefawz | |
13 | Gillian Muller | Drama, Dramedy: Episodic TV and Feature Films | Screenwriter, Story Editor, Jr. Writer | Travelers (Netflix) X Company, Cavendish (CBC) - Coordinated on The Red(Halfire) | The Painted Muse, Mini Series: In Development with Lifeguard Productions: “An Art Restorer travels around the world to reunite a set of priceless Mughal miniatures that have a mysterious link to her own family’s immigration from Partition India to Uganda in the 60s, to modern U.S.A.” The Player’s Son, Hour Drama Series: “A sports agent tries to raise his 14 year old son to be a good man while concealing his hot blooded top client’s bad behaviour.” The Blue Division, Hour Police Procedural: “Internal Affairs lead investigator, tasked to take down the city’s most corrupt cops, discovers a major clue revealing a cover-up to hide a serial killer from the public.” Writer’s Guild of Canada: Diverse Script of the Month: November 2018 Papers, Hour Law Procedural Series: “Akilah Madini is the Robin Hood of Immigration Law, until an investigative reporter uncovers her Law Firm is the centre of a money laundering conspiracy” Muslim Public Affairs Council, Hollywood Bureau; Drama TV Writers Lab: 2018: sponsored by Emmy nominated Wise Entertainment | As a 2014 resident of the Canadian Film Centre's Primetime program, Gillian Muller helped develop "Travelers" (Netflix) and wrote episode two: Protocol 6. Later that year, Gillian assisted Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern on the final season CBC's "X Company", she ALSO and co-directed "Night Owl" and one of the last BravoFacts "Checking Out" which was invited to SXSW 2018. It was a big year. The next year she basically did nothing. In 2018, she co-produced "Super Zee" (Women's International Film Festival 2019) with an all P.O.C. cast and crew. In 2018 she coordinated for CBC's "Cavendish". Her feature "The Favorite Wife" was a 2019 ScreenCraft Fellowship Quarter-Finalist and made the Top 25 at the Save the Cat Screenplay Competition, and is currently in development with Kiss Off Entertainment. Gillian was selected for the Hollywood Bureau division of the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Drama TV Writer's Lab in Santa Monica, sponsored by Emmy-nominated Wise Entertainment. Her script 'Blue Division' was Writer's Guild of Canada: Diverse Script of the Month for November 2018 and she was selected by Ben Watkins (NY Undercover) as one of his Breakthrough Artists for 2019. Gillian also serves on the BIPOC TV & Film visioning committee and the Black Women Film! advisory board. | English | sohrab@thecharacters.com | https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2374799/ INSTA: @gillianmuller www.gillianmuller.com | |
14 | Haaniyah Angus | Half hour dramedy, hour long dramedy | Writer | THE ARRANGEMENT (half-hour comedy): Hanan Jama is your typical British Somali Muslim except for the fact her mother is dying and she's suddenly in need of a husband. To fix this Hanan makes a deal with her best friend, Yasser in order toy fake a marriage. Will it work or will they be found out? WEARY (short): a 15 minute coming of age drama that centres around the final week of school for a Jamaican British teenage girl. | After creating Nerdy POC at 17, Haaniyah Angus gained notoriety online and is now a prominent culture writer focusing on television, film and pop culture. She is studying Film and communications at Oxford Brookes University and is working on her short WEARY along with with her series THE ARRANGEMENT. She's Somali-British currently based in London. | English | haaniyahangusofficial@gmail.com | @haaniyah_ (twitter) | ||
15 | Habon Jibril | hour-long drama, half-hour comedy, coming-of-age | Writer/Director | Beatrice (short) | Available upon request | English, Somali | jibril.habon@gmail.com | |||
16 | Hadeel Hadidi | Half hour comedy, sketch comedy, comedy/drama short/features | Writer/Director | BERNARD AND THE SCARF is a half hour comedy tv show about a loner named BERNARD, who is a high school and inexplicably manifests himself an imaginary friend, who just so happens to be a Muslim girl, THE SCARF. In their unconventional friendship, they navigate teenage angst, struggles with parents and friendships and ultimately, finding themselves. ALAA AND THE JINN is a feature drama about a girl named ALAA who lets a JINN into her life finds herself the recipient of a dangerous game. Desperate, she turns to her cousin to help her save what’s left of her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point. | Hadeel Hadidi is a writer and director based in Los Angeles. A Michigan native, she holds a BA in Communications from the University of Michigan and received her MFA in Screenwriting & Directing from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked on numerous commercials, music videos and feature films with many esteemed directors, including The Wachowskis, Michael Bay, Damien Chazelle, Nicolas Winding Refn and Mark Romanek. She has also worked in digital at Rhett & Link, Inc and has also produced segments for the YouTube duo for VidCon Europe 2017 as well as their GMM show. She has taken sketch comedy and improv courses at Groundlings and Hollywood Improv and is a part of an improv group. | English, Arabic | hadeelhadidi@gmail.com | https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5555528/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 | ||
17 | Hanadi Elyan | Drama and comedy | Writer director | Nadia's Visa (Short drama), Salma's Home (Feature comedy) | Available Upon Request | Writer / Director Hanadi Elyan is an Arab filmmaker whose work focuses on the social issues facing marginalized communities from a female perspective. Hanadi’s short films have competed in film festivals around the world. Her film career started in Jordan, then she moved to Dubai and established Reel Arab Productions. In 2015 she moved to Los Angeles after being selected for a full ride scholarship in MFA in Film Directing from UCLA. So far, Hanadi’s independent film work has focused on Arab Women, which earned her a spot in the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community. Awards include: Jordan Film Fund, Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award, Delia Salvi Memorial award, Special Jury award at Tangiers Film Festival for Mariam’s Chance, George Burns and Gracie Allen Scholarship Fellowship in Comedy and The UCLA 2018 Directors Spotlight Award.Hanadi is currently in post-production for her debut feature length film, Salma's Home. She is also working on her second feature length film, The Camp Beauty Queen, which won a development fund from The Royal Film Commission in Jordan and was just selected to participate in The Producers Guild of America's Power of Diversity Workshop 2019.@HanadiElyan | English, Arabic | HanadiElyan@gmail.com | imdb.me/hanadielyan https://www.facebook.com/HanadiElyanFilm/ https://www.instagram.com/hanadielyan https://twitter.com/HanadiElyan | |
18 | Hena Ashraf | Drama | The House of Mariana y Gabriel (short); The Return (short) | KREUZBERG (feature): A divorced Syrian migrant and her young daughter are resettling in Berlin with the help of her new girlfriend, when her ex-husband comes back into her life. Finalist for the 2018 Sundance and Outfest screenwriting labs. SOLO MARIANA (feature): An undocumented local radio station staffer becomes the host of a nationally syndicated show in order to financially support her family and bring back her recently deported father - but he wishes to stay in Mexico. Finalist for 2019 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. WHEN RUMI MET SHAMS (episodic): Rumi, a world-renowned singer-songwriter with a massive online following, gets her world turned upside down when she meets Shams, an eccentric and offline nomad. Based off of their real-life 13th century famed encounters, “When Rumi Met Shams” is the modern-day story of this powerful duo, as women. | Hena Ashraf is a writer-director who creates subtle and multi-layered narratives with intriguing outsider characters. Born in London to parents from the subcontinent, she spent her early years in the United Kingdom before im/migrating to America and is currently finishing her MFA in Film Directing at UCLA. Her work has been supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Tribeca Film Institute, Islamic Scholarship Fund, Norris Foundation, BAFTA Los Angeles, MPAA, and most recently was awarded a Wasserman Film Production Fellowship. Hena’s work focuses on the trials and traumas of migrant life, centering queer migrants of colour and commenting upon the dilemmas of faith. | Urdu, English | henaxashraf@gmail.com | https://henaashraf.com/ | ||
19 | Iman Saleh | Fantasy, drama, comdey | Screenwriter, actress | -Winner for the Muslim Public Affiars Council screenwriting lab + Creator, showrunner and main lead of Shmoney | ||||||
20 | Iram Parveen Bilal | Drama, Dramedy | Writer/Director (film). Starting TV | I'll Meet You There, One Of A Kind | DETAINED is a drama series about ICE detentions and the ensuing connection that builds between two families, a South Asian Muslim family and a Mexican family, resisting and fighting for justice as their members are suddenly and illegally detained. This series is inspired by true events. EN GARDE: After witnessing a hate crime that kills her mother, freshman star fencer HUMA is lured into an underground “freedom fighting” cell by her fencing opponent, MIKE. Huma delicately navigates the tipping point of radicalization and a budding romance with Mike as she is forced to choose between revenge and love. | Raised in Nigeria and Pakistan, Bilal is a Physics Olympian turned filmmaker. She just lensed her second feature as a writer/director, I'LL MEET YOU THERE, a family drama about a Muslim cop and his teenage ballerina daughter in Chicago. Her previous film, EXTINCTION, is a dystopian future where the #MuslimBan goes extreme. Bilal is developing TV projects set both in the US and in Asia. Her feature project WAKHRI, based on a social media star in Pakistan, made her 1 of 15 directors invited to the 2019 Cannes Latelier program. Her past noted feature length works include Josh (Against The Grain), Pakistan's first film to be on Netflix and in the permanent selection at the US Library of Congress. She just wrapped a four year term as co-chair of the Asian American Writer’s Committee at the WGA and is an active board member for the Caltech Y, a leading community service organization affiliated with her alma mater, the California Institute of Technology. She is a Thomas J Watson, Women In Film, Film Independent and CAPE fellow and an active member of the Alliance of Women Directors and Film Fatales, both organizations vested for fair representation of female directors in the entertainment industry. She believes that genuine curiosity is the antidote to fear. | Urdu, English, Hindi (spoken) | ipb@iramparveenbilal.com | @irampbilal | |
21 | Jehan Madhani | Half hour comedy, sketch comedy, animation, children's, pre-school | writer, comedian, cartoonist | Writer - Butterbean's Cafe (Nick Jr), writing assistant - Charlie's Colorforms City (Netflix), writing fellow - Sesame Street Writer's Room, production coordinator - Sesame Workshop International Social Impact (Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan) | LUCY SPECTOR AND THE GHOST DETECTORS is a middle grade animated comedy following the antics of (very) junior paranormal investigators. Though they're committed to helping their town's numerous ghost residents, they are also working to be good friends to each other and make it through middles school. VAMPIRINA (kids spec) | Jehan Madhani is a South Asian American writer from Houston, Texas working in children's media and comedy in NYC. She was a fellow in the inaugural class of the Sesame Street Writer's Room and has written for Nick Jr. She spends her time drawing comics, making puppets, and tweeting about romantic comedies. She is invested in and passionate about diverse narratives celebrating POC, immigrants and their children, and queer relationships. She also spends a lot of time wondering whether she is her group text's diversity hire. | English | jehan413@gmail.com | www.jehanmadhani.com comics insta: @jehancomic twitter: @jehan413 | |
22 | Kausar Mohammed | Half hour comedy, comedy feature, sketch comedy, horror short/features | Writer, comedian, actress | Comedy credits: Upright Citizen's Brigade House Sketch Comedy Team EMERALD, All South Asian Comedy Team THE GET BROWN, WhoHaha Featured Comedian. Acting credits: LITTLE (Paramount), WHAT MEN WANT (Universal), series lead on Paul Feig's EAST OF LA BREA, with additional credits on networks like CW, Amazon, HBO, ABC, etc. | Kausar Mohammed is a Bengali/Pakistani-American actress born in San Jose, California with a young start in theatre and comedy. Kausar plays series lead in Paul Feig's dramedy, East of La Brea, a show about two Muslim-American twenty somethings navigating their changing LA landscape. She has also has worked alongside Taraji P. Henson on the highly anticipated film What Men Want (Paramount), Issa Rae on Little (Universal), and has additional credits on shows such as Silicon Valley (HBO), Black Lightning (CW), and Nobodies (TV Land). She has been a part of various award-winning digital projects, such as "Smyle" and "Namaste" featured on Huffington Post, NBC, and Al-Jazeera. She trains and performs improv/sketch at UCB/Groundlings and is on an all South-Asian sketch comedy team, The Get Brown, that performs regularly at UCB theatre. | English, Urdu, Hindi | Anna Lewkowska, Arc Artists Management | https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6953887/ | ||
23 | Khaula Malik | features (comedy/drama), shorts (comedy/drama) animated (adult/children's), half hour comedy, documentary | Writer/Producer/Director | ROSA'S ESPERANZA (short), REEMA KA AMREEKA (tv scripted doc series), THE NOBLE HALF (hybrid documentary - in production) | not complete... MAHRAM (feature) - Sundance screenwriting lab finalist DIWAL'EID (feature) - Sundance screenwriting lab finalist BUT, FATIMA (pilot) CLEMENCY - WORKING TITLE (pilot) VESPERANZA (short) NOSTRILDAMUS (animated short) PASTRYVILLE (animated feature) | English, Urdu, Punjabi, Spanish | malik.khaula@gmail.com | www.khmalik.com instagram: k_aytch | ||
24 | Laaleen Sukhera | Dramedy, rom-com, docu-series, period drama | * Series Coordinator * Writer | * After the Bradford Boil--ITV, UK; nominated for a One World Media Award (series coordinator, researcher, conducted many of the interviews) * Austenistan--Bloomsbury Publishing (author, editor) https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/austenistan-9789386950284/ | Available soon | Laaleen has the kind of name that few people can pronounce right, let alone spell. The second A was added to 'Laleen' by her dad when she was a first grader at Little Red School House in Houston and it really didn't help. But she's easy to find on Google as a result. Laaleen is British Pakistani and spent many of her formative years up in Lahore, Pakistan. At Clark University, she presented the first honors thesis for the Screen Studies department. During her time in NY, she worked on TV pilots and live business news at Merrill Lynch. In Pakistan, she produced a public health TV show in Islamabad and Lahore, where she later worked as a magazine editor and correspondent as well as a United Nations approved content creator. Most recently, she's scripted and coordinated advertising campaigns, appeared as a TEDx spaker and been interviewed by the BBC, NPR, The Times, Vanity Fair Italia and Al Jazeera, sometimes for her regional bestseller #Austenistan, and other times for her activism. Laaleen is currently scripting a feature length rom-com and working on a novel. | English (native), Urdu (spoken) | laaleen@gmail.com Repped by WME | www.Laaleen.com Twitter: @laaleen Facebook & Instagram: @laaleensukhera | |
25 | Lina Khatib | Comedy and Drama | Writer/Director *actively seeking Writer's Assistant roles* | Enfleurage (Short - Director) | SIXTEEN (Short): It’s the day of Rana’s 16th birthday and her mother insists on throwing her a sweet sixteen-birthday party, unaware that Rana has no friends. Rana is terrified of turning 16, and recalls her mother’s traumas at that same age. The story parallels with her mother’s life at 16 living in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila in Lebanon during the 1982 war between Lebanon and Israel. PERSONIFICATION - WORKING TITLE (Sci-Fi Dramedy – hour long): 1987 – COLUMBUS, OHIO. After going on a school field trip to the Science and History Museum, AYAH discovers that everything she knew about herself and her family was a lie. She must now embark on a journey with the help of her friends, science teacher, and a small creature she refers to as her droid, to find the map and figure out how to get back to her true home. | Lina Khatib is a Palestinian American Writer-Director. She grew up in Columbus, Ohio and studied English and Art during undergrad at The Ohio State University. Her work is heavily influenced by her Middle Eastern heritage and Midwestern upbringing, along with the works of Steven Spielberg, Sofia Coppola, Hayao Miyazaki, and the home videos made by her father while growing up (he bought his first video camera right before she was born). She is a self-proclaimed nostalgia queen; she honestly should have actually been a teen in the 80s instead of the 2000s but she’s accepted the mistake and moved past it. By moving past if of course it means she’s pretty much obsessed with that time period so it always appears in her work. In 2014 she attended the "Beyond the Ceiling: Groundbreaking Voices of American Muslim Women" Event at The White House. After moving to Los Angeles, she took a career detour into fashion for a few years working at American Apparel (until it shut down), and most recently a Visual Merchandizer at Topshop Topman. Lina’s actually had a lot of various film and non-film related jobs in her life thus far. The reason behind this life choice was actually inspired by an episode of the Simpsons she watched in middle school, where it was pointed out that Homer has tried a million different jobs yet always ends up going back the Power Plant. She saw that episode and decided she wanted to be just like Homer and try as many jobs as possible before going to her Power Plant (the film/tv industry). She now uses all those experiences to inform her writing. Lina is currently studying Improv and Sketch Writing at The Pack Theater, and her writing/directing short film debut “Sixteen” is currently in pre-production. | Fluent English and Arabic, Intermediate Spanish | lina.r.khatib@gmail.com | https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4036195/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 | |
26 | M. Hasna Maznavi | Comedy & Dramedy (half hour, one hour, sketch, feature) | WGA Comedy Writer/Director & Performer | MUHAMMAD BREAKS THE RULES (feature/writer), DEPORTED (feature/writer), THE TIGER HUNTER (feature/rewrites), SPIRIT CLIPS (webseries/writers room), ALL-AMERICAN MUSLIM (TV Reality/PR) Accolades: Named one of CNN's 25 Most Influential American-Muslims (2018), Guest at The White House under President Obama (2016), CBS Diversity Comedy Sketch Writing Workshop (2013), Winner/International Guest at New Horizon International Festival of Independent Filmmakers, Finalist in Nickelodeon Writer's Script Review, Finalist in LinkTV's "One Nation, Many Voices" Contest, Panelist at 8th Annual Asian Pacific American (APAture) Film Festival, Honorable Mention at Eisner Award Film Festival | WATCH Stand-Up Comedy here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-OqEUYoPcI Collection of short writing samples: YOUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS -- Sketch inspired by the dinner scene in "The Incredibles" MUSLIM SEINFELD -- Spoof on “The Implant” Seinfeld episode A NORMAL (SOUTH ASIAN) GIRL -- Dramatic piece on race, beauty, and identity ODE TO MY ELLIPTICAL MACHINE -- Comedic poem about the gym Op-Ed published in The Huffington Post: 9 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-womens_b_7339582 | M. Hasna Maznavi is a WGA comedy writer/director & performer committed to changing the way Islam & Muslims are represented in mainstream American media. Hasna is also Founder & President of The Women’s Mosque of America, the historic first women-led Muslim house of worship in the United States. Hasna holds an MFA in Film & TV Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and her BAs in Art and Mass Communications from UC Berkeley. She has interned and assisted at several production companies in the industry: FOX Comedy TV Development, Lionsgate, Simon West Productions, BoomGen Studios, Unity Productions Foundation, and under director Dugan O’Neal. Additionally, she has studied improv at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, iO West, M.I.’s Westside Comedy, and stand-up under Greg Dean and Jerry Corley. WATCH a clip of her stand-up HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-OqEUYoPcI | English | mhasnam@gmail.com | https://www.facebook.com/MHasnaM | |
27 | Mahum Jamal | Drama/Coming-of-age | Writer/Director/Producer | A Good Dream (feature film - Director, Writer, Producer) | ARIANNA'S CHRISTMAS (feature screenplay) - Caught between high school pressures and her conservative home life, 15-year-old Arianna Pasha navigates her Muslim family and overworked Mom to celebrate the Christmas of a lifetime. | Mahum Jamal is a filmmaker based in New York, NY. She most recently wrote and directed the feature film A Good Dream (2018), which won 17 awards internationally - including Best Feature Film and Best Director - and was nominated for 9 other awards. The film was acquired by Freestyle Digital Media and is available widely on iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay and other video-on-demand platforms. Mahum is completing her MBA/MFA dual degree program at New York University. The program accepts 5 applicants each year for the unique opportunity to pursue simultaneously both an MFA in film at Tisch School of the Arts and an MBA from Leonard N. Stern School of Business. In addition, she is the recepient of the Story Mining and Supply Scholarship for her strength in both programs. Mahum attended Barnard College at Columbia University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Studies with a minor in Religion. She was raised in the Silicon Valley in a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. Her interests include storytelling, digital media, and entrepreneurship, particularly projects with an artistic, theoretical or philosophical bent. | English/Urdu/Hindi/French | mahum.jamal@gmail.com | Twitter: mahumjamal; instagram (on break): mahumjamal; www.mahumjamal.space | |
28 | Maissa Houri | Comedy, Drama | Actress, Filmmaker/Director, Writer | Dirty Love web series | Dirty Love - Web Series: An Arab-Canadian Muslim woman sells sex toys when she loses her job. She and her diverse group of friends navigate dating life in their 30s, touching on issues such as religion, culture, sex, LGBTQ, kink, #metoo and more. Youtube: @dirtyloveseries or www.dirtyloveseries.com | Maissa Houri is an Arab-Canadian actress and filmmaker based out of Ottawa, Canada. Maissa is the Executive Producer, Co-Creator, main director and writer of Dirty Love. She is also one of the co-founders and the Director of Industry events of the Eve Film Festival, a festival dedicated to women and women-identifying Directors. Recently, her two short films, “Russian Gangster” and “Inara” have been recipients of several awards and official selections in multiple film festivals. | Written/Spoken: English, French Spoken: Arabic | maisse.houri@gmail.com | www.dirtyloveseries.com Facebook page: @maissahourifilm ; personal FB: @maissa houri-charron; IG: @miss_maissa ; Twitter: @MaissaHouri | |
29 | Mariyam Mahbub | Sci Fi, Comedy, Drama | Writer/Director | 20 Weeks (Feature Film) Associate Producer Just One Night (Short Film) Producer Wednesday (Short Film) Producer Masculine/Masculine (Short Film) Producer Contemporary Mating Rituals (Webseries) Writer/Director | JURASSIC ORIGINS (hour episodic): Set in mid 1980s Palo Alto, this prequel to the 1993 Jurassic Park movie takes a look at John Hammond's journey from failing InGen biotech company owner to his rise as a theme park mogul while he toes the lines of morality and government contraints in order to reach major breakthroughs in science and business. Part Elon Musk, part Elizabeth Holmes, we watch as John rallys board members and employees to get his way, letting nothing get in his way no matter the consequences MEET CUTE (feature): When an investigative journalist enrolls in a popular robot romance service AMOUR (Applied Mechanic Optimization & Unified Robotics), she begins to question the true identities of those closest to her as well as her beliefes about love, lust, and soul mates. Screencraft Sci-fi Semi-Finalist FLEABAG (half hour episodic) spec script | Born in Bangladesh, Mariyam Mahbub moved to Long Beach, CA at the age of seven and went on to obtain her MFA from Loyola Marymount University in 2014 for Film Production. Mariyam was selected as a Fellow in the Film Independent/LMU Incubator Lab, where she created and developed an eight-episode web series, Contemporary Mating Rituals. She most recently was selected as a Fellow for the Film Independent Project Involve program where she produced and developed three short films which premiered at the LA Film Festival in September 2018. Her shorts and web series have screened at multiple international and regional festivals including Toronto Shorts Film Fest, Glasgow Int’l Film Fest, Atlanta Film Festival, Bentonville Film Fest, and San Diego Latino Film Festival. Mariyam currently works at Anonymous Content for Partner/Producer Joy Gorman where she assists in the development and creation of content for women and children with social impact. The current slate includes 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, Home Before Dark on the new Apple streaming platform, Overlooked for Netflix (teamed up with Obama's Higher Ground), Straight Talk (with Issa Rae's Color Creative). | Benagli, English, Spanish | mariyamimg@gmail.com | @esha1st instagram @mariyammahbub twitter | |
30 | Maryan Haye | YA, Comedy, Drama | Writer, Actor | Dino Ranch (Preschool Series, Writer) Lockdown S2 (YA Series, Story Coordinator) VISIBLE (Short Film- Co Writer/Director) | REP - (1 hr dramedy series) In a chatty, Somali-heavy community in modern day Toronto, 16 year old Layla Dahir and her family quickly realize that the "rep" one garners means everything. | Maryan Haye is a Somali-Canadian writer and actor from Toronto, Ontario. A new WGC member and recent graduate of the RTA Media Production program at Ryerson University, she is excited to create stories that will highlight underrepresented voices in authentic and nuanced ways, particularly in the television genres of YA, comedy, and dramedy. She was a 2018 ReelWorld E20 Program participant, has taken part in writing workshops at TIFF and the CFC, and is an alumnus of the OYA Emerging Filmmakers Program. She just wrapped up a being a participant in the Blank Canvas TV Writers Mentorship program, and has completed her first preschool script for television. Her original 1hr YA pilot REP was chosen as the WGC Script of the Month this past summer. | English, Somali | maryanhaye3@gmail.com | @maryanhaye (Twitter, IG) https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9149969/ | |
31 | Miriam Arghandiwal | Drama, Dramedy, Documentary | Writer/Director/Producer | * Samir (Producer) * Girl in the Icebox (director/writer) *Sedation (Producer, Oscar Semi-finalist) | Available upon request | Miriam Arghandiwal is an Afghan-American director, writer, and producer from the Bay Area, California. Before becoming a filmmaker she was a reporter for Thomson Reuters in Afghanistan, where she covered stories about women and civil rights. She also worked as a program manager and youth recruiter for Sound Central, an organization aimed at helping youth in war torn and oppressed cities find their voices via various forms of art. She recently received her MFA from USC's graduate Film and Television Production program. She also just completed her first feature film; Samir -- a remake of Count of Monte Cristo with a Muslim lead, which was fully funded by the Warner Bros. She is now working on an upcoming Disney channel pilot. | English, Dari, Farsi | arghandiwalm@gmail.com, 925.487.9410 | Twitter:_Maro, Instagram: Lomarove | |
32 | MK Ansari | Comedy/Drama/Documentary/Reality | Writer, actor | MPAC Lab winner Comedy (2018), MPAC Lab winner, Drama (2019) Quarterfinalist for Screencraft Film Fund (2019) | Hashtag Blessed: A comedy about the first generation brown narrative versus the immigrant narrative The Real Viking Brothers (Netflix): A reality show with extreme sports | MK Ansari is an award winning screenwriter and journalist. She was the former editor in chief of Illume Magazine, has written for Thomson Reuters, CNN, Yahoo News, and Huffington Post. She is also soon to be published in a literary anthology for her short story on mental health. Her degree is in Law and she practices as a Silicon Valley tech lawyer when she's not writing. In addition to law and writing, she is the cohost of the Good Girl Playbook podcast and the cofounder of the Muslim Women's Art Society, a nonprofit that supports and advances Muslim women in the arts. | NATIVE FLUENCY in English, French, Urdu and Punjabi | mkansarimedia@gmil.com | www.mkansari.com | |
33 | Najla Zaidi | Comedy, dramedy, book adaptation | Screenwriter/Director | The Christmas tree (writer/director) AFI short with distribution, Dear Mom, (writer) short winner of 2 awards, Loyalty (writer/director) feature music doc with distribution. | Please go to http://najlazaidi.com | Najla Zaidi is an award winning screenwriter and director. She's earned a MFA in screenwriting and is an alumna of AFI's prestigious Directing Workshop for Women. | English, Urdu/Hindi, some French | nzaidi6@gmail.com | Twitter: @najlazaidi | |
34 | Nawal Salim | Documentary | Actress, filmmaker/director | Keep Dreaming, Kiddo! is documentary film produced through Ryerson MFA Documentary Media program about the director’s experience to become an actress as a Muslim woman who wears the hijab full time. She compares her journey with many other actresses to see how race affects one’s opportunities in the acting industry in Toronto. As well, she speaks to several experts to learn how to practically integrate Muslim actresses into film and TV as the issue not only stops at acting, but extends to education, writing, casting, and production. | Nawal Salim is an actress, filmmaker, and community organizer. She has a Specialized Honours BA in English and Professional Writing, in the communications stream, from York University. During her undergraduate degree, she founded Greenlight Productions: a Muslim dramatic arts organization. She has put on talent competitions for young Muslims at MuslimFest, and continues to facilitate filmmaking workshops for high school students. Nawal has also studied acting at Second City Toronto, Armstrong Acting Studios, LB Acting Studios, and The Professional Actors Lab. | English, Urdhu, Arabic | facebook.com/artistnawalsalim | |||
35 | Neha Aziz | Comedy, dramedy, book adaptation | Screenwriter/Director | Producer of the documentary short Come & Take It - world premiere at SXSW, audience award winners at Sidewalk Film Festival and New Orleans Film Festival, Second Rounder (top 20%) for Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Competition - Smart Decisions and Slamdance Screenwriting Semi-Finalist for The Proposition. | The Proposition: After forming a strong connection over the course of one night, a young woman named Zara proposes an exclusive relationship with a casual friend. Smart Decisions: Anila is a young Pakistani woman trying to make SMART DECISIONS in modern day Austin. Following an unexpected breakup, she decides to try out celibacy while navigating the waters of app-based dating. Presented through a curated collection of phone calls, personal encounters, and overheard conversations, Smart Decisions is a funny and moving perspective of what it means to live in the moment while planning for tomorrow. | Neha Aziz is a Pakistani-American writer, journalist, and filmmaker. She is a graduate of the prestigious journalism and film programs at The University of Texas at Austin. You can read her work at The Austin Chronicle, CultureMap Austin, and Medium. She has covered the Sundance Film Festival, ATX Television Festival, Austin Film Festival, and SXSW as a member of the press. Her script The Proposition was a semi-finalist in the 2018 Slamdance Screenwriting Competition. She produced Come & Take It, a documentary short about the #CocksNotGlocks and Gun Free UT movements with acclaimed filmmakers PJ Raval and Ellen Spiro, which premiered at SXSW 2018 and has gone on to win Audience Award accolades at Side Walk Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival. She works at South by Southwest in Austin, TX. | English, Urdu/Hindi | neha.aziz12@gmail.com | Twitter: @nehaaziz13, Instagram: @nehaaziz http://comeandtakeitdoc.com/?fbclid=IwAR1fnc6UJNQ2E2xqsnFRtkI-pd-hiYem2f6NDHPoSyR_Y0T_oLEqnhHgKVE | |
36 | Nesa Huda | Drama and Comedy | Writer/Director | Arranged (Short Film) | Taboo (Short Film): When a Muslim boy attempts suicide, a cardinal sin in Islam, he has to deal with the fallout with his family and community. | Nesa Huda is an emerging Muslim and female director in the GTA. She is passionate about bringing diverse, women-driven stories to the screen. Her first film, Arranged, humorously follows the events of an arranged marriage meeting, and is a critique on the process as a whole. She recently graduated from the Communications and Professional Writing program at UTM, where she also had the pleasure of creating videos at Sheridan College as part of her program. Nesa wants to continue to create films about Muslims by Muslims, and counteract the dangerous narratives that are perpetuated by the media about people who may look like her. Taboo is her second fiction short | English, Hindi, Urdu | nesahuda@gmail.com | https://www.nesahuda.com/ | |
37 | Nida Chowdhry | Half hour comedy, half hour dramedy | Writer | Unfair & Ugly' (Half-Hour Dramedy Mini Series); #TodayIMet (Unscripted Talk Show) | Nida Chowdhry was born in Lahore, Pakistan and brought over to 'Merica as a wee babe dazzled by Hollywood, specifically writing, performing & producing. She's Muslim American, which is great. In 2017, Nida & her dear friend Yumna Khan co-founded Stranger Magic Productions. They've launched a half-hour mini dramedy series she wrote called Unfair & Ugly, about a South Asian Muslim American Family in 'The OC' trying to keep it together, as well as a conversation series she hosts called #TodayIMet, both streaming on YouTube. First internship - BBC. First PA job - Dancing with the Stars. Comedy training - UCB. Jane Fonda inspired facelift - inshallah. | English, Urdu, Punjabi, Spanish | nida.chowdhry@gmail.com | @nidachowdhry nidachowdhry.com | ||
38 | Nijla Mu'min | Drama, dramedy, Romance, Coming of Age, Family | Writer, Staffwriter, director | Jinn- Feature Film Debut-writer/director, Queen Sugar- director, Swagger (Apple/Imagine TV drama-upcoming)-staffwriter | Untitled/Jinn series spin-off (one-hour drama-Teen/Family Dramedy) The Unloved (one-hour drama)- A conflicted politician must decide if she will sacrifice her family and her life to be reelected. A story of a Black woman antihero in the Bay Area. | Nijla Mu'min is a writer and filmmaker from the East Bay Area. Named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine in 2017, she tells stories about black girls and women who find themselves between worlds and identities. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, IFP, and Film Independent. Her short film Dream was acquired by Issa Rae Productions (Insecure, HBO) for online streaming. Her debut feature film, Jinn, premiered in narrative competition at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, where she won the Special Jury Recognition Award for screenwriting. The film was be released by Orion Classics in 2018. She recently directed an episode of Ava DuVernay's critically-acclaimed television series "Queen Sugar," and currently writes for the upcoming Apple series, "Swagger." She is a 2013 dual-degree graduate of CalArts MFA Film Directing and Writing Programs. | English, Black English, minimal Spanish | nijla1@gmail.com Instagram/Twitter: Nijla1 | www.nijlamumin.com | |
39 | Reem Edan | half-hour comedy | Writer, Stand-up Comedian | MGM Writing Program, WhoHaha (writer), Dichotomy (writer), Unity Productions Foundations (writers asst) | ROYALLY FLUSHED (half-hour comedy, animated): A kidnapped celebrity toddler learns to survive in a rough-and-tumble NYC orphanage. BROWN SHEEP (half-hour comedy, live-action): When her Muslim parents follow her to LA, an amateur comedian struggles to balance her Westernized lifestyle with the cultural traditions she's (mostly) left behind. WE'RE BACK (half-hour comedy, live-action): When a family moves back to the U.S. after spending years abroad, they must learn to re-integrate to American life while dealing with an identity crisis. | Reem Edan is an Iraqi-American writer and internationally performing stand-up comedian who began her career on the studio side at Disney and later STX Entertainment. She has since developed projects for the MGM Writing Program (TV) and Dichotomy (film); has written for WhoHaha (Elizabeth Banks), Collins Key (YouTube) and BRAT (digital); and pens a success humor column on SWAAY.com. | Arabic, Spanish, English | reemhsni@gmail.com | @reemedan (IG, TW) www.reemedan.com | |
40 | Rolla Selbak | Drama, Grounded Sci-Fi // 1-hour, half-hour, features | Writer/Director | * Three Veils (feature, writer/director) * American Paradise (short co-producer) * Kiss Her I'm Famous (2 season series, writer/director) * Choke (short writer/director | BLACK PERLS (half-hour dramedy) - dramedy in the vein of Buffy The Vampire Slayer about a group of female hackers in the 90s who battle it out with rival hacker groups to rule Y2k. CHOKE (half-hour drama) - TV series based on the short film about a rising MMA star hides her Syrian refugee status from her small American town, and the world. | Rolla Selbak is a Sundance 2017 filmmaker, and a triple- minority in the film industry: a queer, Arab-American woman. She is a writer/director of film and TV drama, and is known for bringing strong female characters to the forefront of her work. She imprints her fresh point of view as a queer Arab immigrant having moved to the U.S after the first Gulf War, and often focuses on socially topical themes that aim to push boundaries yet unite audiences. Her most recent credits include co-producing AMERICAN PARADISE, a reflection of a desperate man in today’s racially divided America, and helming the internationally acclaimed feature film THREE VEILS, a first of its kind to confront homosexuality within the Muslim-American subculture. Selbak’s latest project, CHOKE, is a film she wrote and directed about a rising MMA star who hides her Syrian refugee status from her small American town, and the world. It was an official selection this year at the Emerging Voices program at HBO sponsored OUTFEST Film Festival, and reached the finals at the SUNDANCE EPISODIC LAB 2018. | English, Arabic | rollio@gmail.com | Twitter: @RollaSelbak // Instagram: @rolliox | |
41 | Sahar Jahani | hour-long drama, half-hour comedy | Staff Writer | Ramy (S1, writers asst/script coordinator, Writer EP 105), 13 Reasons Why S4 (staff writer) | Sahar worked in scripted development at YouTube Originals before transitioning to the writers room on the Hulu/A24 series RAMY, where she wrote her first episode of television. In 2018, Sahar was selected to participate in the Film Independent Project Involve Program where she wrote and directed JUST ONE NIGHT, which premiered at the LA Film Festival. This past January, her original pilot, UNCOVERED, was awarded the MACRO Episodic Lab Grant and is in development with Executive Producer Eva Longoria. Sahar is currently a staff writer on a Netflix show (TBA). | Farsi, English | Lucy Stutz @ Rain Management | @inthisjahan (Twitter, Instagram) | ||
42 | Samah Meghjee | half-hour comedy, family, children | Writer | THERAPIST SPEED DATING - Short comedy sketch. Campus Movie Fest Jury Award Winner (1st place) and winner of the Silver Tripod Award for Best Story. One of only five films across the country to be nominated for a Golden Tripod Award. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RDj-uHcdfE | BAD MUSLIMS - Sahar, Zaamenah, and Anas are accidentally matched through an online Muslim rommate matching service when Anas lies about his gender in order to avoid living with gross dudes. They agree to stay roommates, but try to convince each other that they all are not "bad Muslims." As the facade slowly dissolves through found flasks, a lingering smell of weed, and an accidental run-in at a local drag show, the three become the best of friends. | NEW KIDS AT THE MOSQUE - A Muslim-American family, the Ibrahims, with Indian roots and an immigrant background navigates life as a normal American family. The Ibrahims chase the “American Dream” and run into hilarious troubles along the way. | Samah Meghjee is a rising senior at Emory University studying Creative Writing and Film & Media Studies. She is invested in bringing Muslim voices to comedic and family television and is interested in pursuing a career in media. | English | samahmeghjee@gmail.com | samahmeghjee.com; instagram.com/samahiam | |
43 | Sarah Anwer Khan | half hour dramedy, hour long dramedy | Writer / Digital Producer / Actress | CENTRAL PARK, Apple TV+: writer's assistant (s2) | ZARA (feature): A girl lives vicariously through her fantasies of romance and adventure to escape her reality of high school, rules, and Pakistani traditions... until she meets an older boy at a high-school party. Fantasies ensue. But, what's really happening? BE ME! (feature): Maryam gets a DM from a high profile celebrity. She doesn't know how to respond so her best friend, Sasha starts ghostwriting for her. It's a love triangle. THE ARRANGEMENT (half-hour comedy): Hanan Jama is your typical British Somali Muslim except for the fact her mother is dying and she's suddenly in need of a husband. To fix this Hanan makes a deal with her best friend, Yasser in order toy fake a marriage. Will it work or will they be found out? | Sarah Khan is a writer/digital producer based in Los Angeles. Her works have been featured in BuzzFeed, Brown Girl Magazine, All Def Digital, Teen Vogue, BBC Asian Network, and First Access Entertainment. While her primary focus has been digital content creation, she's pursuing television writing and producing. She is currently in pre-production for her feature, ZARA. Set to debut in 2020. She was raised in Arlington, Texas and is first generation Pakistani-American. | Urdu, Hindi, English | sarahanwer.khan@gmail.com | @bootlegmuslim (twitter) | |
44 | Sidikha Ashraf | dramedy, half hour comedy | Writer/Actress | The Center (half hour dramedy): A group of twenty-something year olds in Elmhurst, Queens, New York have suddenly found themselves responsible of carrying out their childhood imam's dream of building a new Islamic center for the community. S.I.D. Tonight - The "Sidikha is Dreaming" Special: A two hour special episode of a mock late-night show hosted by Sidikha Ashraf. The episode includes a monologue, a deep-dive into Islamophobia in light of the New Zealand attacks, a desk bit, a desk character, three sketches, a celebrity interview with reductress writer, Afsana Ahmed, a celebrity game with Padma Lakshmi, a field peice investigating the relationship between a Queens test prep center and the New York Specialized High School Admissions test, a ten minute stand-up set and a short film teasing a future stand-up special. | Sidikha Ashraf is a South-Indian American Muslim comedy writer and stand-up comic from Queens, New York. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2019 with a minor in Health & Society, which is the public health minor offered by Wellesley’s Women’s & Gender Studies Department, and she left with honors in her major, English & Creative Writing, after writing her own late-night show for her honors thesis. Her thesis is the recipient of the 2019 Charlotte Paul Reese ’38 Memorial Prize for Creativity in Writing for Television. Sidikha was also awarded the Charlotte Paul Reese ’38 Memorial Prize for Creativity in Playwriting back in 2017 for her one-act satirical play about the Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Sidikha is now looking to gain experience as a writers assistant and would love if anyone contacted with any leads. | English, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu | sashraf@wellesley.edu | Twitter: @sidikhanmani Insta: @sidikha.ashraf | ||
45 | Susan Youssef | Drama, Dramedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Action, Features and Episodic Television | Producer/Writer/Director | AMSTERDAM TO ANATOLIA (21st Century Fox Commissioned Short, Writer/Director) MARJOUN AND THE FLYING HEADSCARF (Feature, Producer/Writer/Director) A DIFFERENT STORY (MBC, Story Mentor for Episodic Series Competition) SOURCE (Short, Commissioned by the Tate Modern, Director) HABIBI (Feature, Netflix Sponsored, Producer/Writer/Director) WEST FINGERBOARD ROAD (Short, Writer/Director) FOR THE LEAST (Short, Sundance Official Selection, Writer/Director) MARJOUN AND THE FLYING HEADSCARF (Short, Sundance Official Selection, Producer/Writer/Director) Directing Fellow (21st Century Fox Global Directors Initiative), Guest Speaker at Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and many other institutions around the globe, HABIBI is Winner of Women in Film Foundation Finishing Fund as sponsored by Netflix (Writer/Director), Fulbright Fellow (Islamic Civilizations Initiative), Warren Skaaren Presidential Scholar and Princess Grace Award Winner: MFA, University of Texas at Austin in Film Production, Blogger for Women & Hollywood on Indiewire | Available upon request | Susan Youssef is the writer/director of two dramatic features, a documentary, and seven shorts that have been official selections of film festivals such as Venice, Toronto International, and Sundance, as well as have been programmed in museums including Tate Modern, New Museum, and Museum of Modern Art - New York. Her films have won awards including FIPRESCI, NETPAC, and 'Best Film' prizes at festivals internationally. She was commissioned by 21st Century Fox to make the short Amsterdam to Anatolia. Susan is a Directing Fellow of Fox’s Global Directors Initiative. She has shadowed for Lesli Linka Glatter and Gail Mancuso. She is a Fulbright Fellow and Princess Grace Award recipient. Susan has been a Guest Speaker at Yale, Princeton, the State Department, and many other institutions around the world. Prior to filmmaking, she was a schoolteacher and journalist in Beirut. Susan is a graduate of University of Virginia (BA, Lawn Resident) and University of Texas at Austin (MFA, Presidential Scholar.) She was born in Brooklyn, NY. | English, Dutch, French, Arabic | Hira Jafri <jafri.hira@gmail.com> | habibithefilm.com, marjoun.com, Twitter: @susanyoussef | |
46 | Tasneem Nanji | half-hour dramedy, half hour musical comedy | BENNY ( half hour musical comedy) : After getting a DUI at the age of 16 an overweight musical prodigy Benazir Benny Ibrahim finds herself at a boarding school in New England. She escapes reality through music, all while her secret friendship with a popular school jock and connection with the school therapist ( the only woman of color faculty on campus) keep her from blowing her brains out. MASCARA ( half hour dramedy ) : When an 3rd Generation Latinx Angeleno finds her new faith, identity and strength in converting to Islam she discovers a sisterhood she never knew was missing in her life as she struggles to keep her family and the world around her from falling apart. | Tasneem Nanji is a Multi-Disciplinary Artist and Writer born in Canada, grew up in Oklahoma with roots in East Africa. They have written songs for projects appearing on Amazon On Demand and Logo Channel. Tasneem has participated in CBS Diversity Sketch Showcase as a writer and took part in the OutFest InFusion NBC/Universal Workshop as well as the National Film Board of Canada and JHC Emerging Filmmakers Program. | English, French | tasneemmusic@gmail.com | @iamtasneem twitter | |||
47 | Y. Shireen Razack | Drama, especially Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Supernatural | Co-EP | New Amsterdam (Supervising Producer, Co-EP); Shadowhunters (ESE, Producer); Haven (Story Editor); Rizzoli & Isles (Staff Writer); The Secret Circle (Staff Writer); Undercovers (Staff Writer); Trauma (Staff Writer) | Shireen is your typical Indian-Trinidadian Canadian, Muslim American, if there’s anything particularly typical about that. She was born in Canada to Indian-Trinidadian parents but mostly raised in Fort Worth, Texas. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, she side tripped into a career in advertising that took her from Texas to New York City but finally moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue her dream of writing for television. She was admitted to the CBS Writers Mentoring Program and soon thereafter staffed on NBC’s Trauma, followed by JJ Abrams’ Undercovers, Kevin Williamson’s The Secret Circle, TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, SyFy’s Haven, ABC Family/Freeform’s Shadowhunters and is currently a Co-EP on NBC’s New Amsterdam. | English, some Spanish | Rich Rogers at Verve | @YShireenWhyNot | ||
48 | Yasemin Yilmaz | Drama, Genre (SF/Horror) | Co-Producer | The Exorcist, Protector, Lalo's House | Born in Turkey, the only English words Yasemin knew when she immigrated to California at 14-years-old was “Hasta la vista, baby.” Six months later, she spoke English like a native. Being bicultural, Yasemin is drawn to opposing fields. She’s endlessly fascinated by human mythology and mysticism, as well as scientific innovation and the future of technology. She is a student of the ancient art of molybdomancy (lead pouring) and became a master fortuneteller, yet also has stitched up patients in emergency rooms and worked for a US government defense contractor selling F-16 aircraft parts. Her short film "Lalo's House" received the Student Academy Award and she became an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow before starting out her TV career and working on domestic and international series. | English, Turkish, Spanish (intermediate) | Gerardo Machado at Marathon Management | @casmentira | ||
49 | Zain Shami | Half Hour Comedy | Comedian/actress | Zain is one of the first internationally known Hijabi Muslim female who performs Standup Comedy within the United States. Raised in California with a very unique perspective on religion and culture, she is able to grapple with her unrivaled upbringing through laughter and a lot of love! | English/Arabic | Zashami@gmail.com | Zaincomedy | |||
50 | Manaal Khan | One Hour Drama Features | Creator/TV Screenplay By/Films | JIB IQAMA (one hour drama) In 1994, Jabbar Ullah Khan leaves his small town in Ghaziabad, India to travel to Dubai on what he believes is an engineering visa - only to find himself enslaved in a labor camp where he becomes one of the thousand ill treated laborers who are forced to build the Middle East's metropolitan landscape. | Manaal Khan is a Film/TV writer, director, and producer. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents, she moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA's School of T heater, Film, and TV. Her thesis film Through The Red Doors won her a spot at UCLA’s highly competitive annual Film Festival. Since then, she has directed other short films as well as music videos and digital commercials. After graduating from UCLA, Manaal started working as a producer with Academy Award Nominee James Franco. During her time at Franco’s Rabbit Bandini, she produced 6 feature films and oversaw projects from the phases of development, production, and post. She produced films that that have starred talent, such as: EGOT, Whoopi Goldberg, Josh Duhamel, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Pamela Anderson. Her most recent theatrical release was the thriller The Institute directed by James Franco, and her upcoming releases include the high school comedy feature CAMP starring Joey King and Saturday Night Live's Horatio Sanz, in collaboration with Disney's Digital Network. Films she has been involved in both as a writer and producer have been part of various American and International Film Festivals including Austin Film Festival and Cannes. In 2017, she founded her production company, AMYALE, where she is developing and producing a diverse and inclusive slate of both motion pictures and television for international and domestic audiences. Her company has set up the feature adaptation of the novel 500 Words or Less with Gabrielle Union at Amazon Studio as well as the young adult drama Sonata with Viola Davis’ JuVee Productions. Most recently, she set up her first TV show as well as a feature with two studios. Manaal is also currently adapting the novel Empire of Sand (named Time Magazine's Top Ten Fantasies of 2018) for TV with Kronicle Media attached to produce as well as writing her coming of age feature directorial debut. | Urdu, Hindi, English | manaal@amyaleproductions.com | @immanaal Twitter/IG | ||
51 | Shireen Alihaji | Features, Half Hour, Full Hour Drama, Coming of Age, Horror/Scifi | Writer/Director | n/a | available upon request | After supporting the writing/directing diversity initiatives at ABC Studios, Shireen Alihaji transitioned into community scale media organizing and she co-founded Blue Veil Films; an LA based media cooperative that helps communities of color reclaim their narratives through video production/education. As a Muslim woman with Epilepsy and a child of duel cultural (Ecuador/Iran) heritage, she seeks to create spaces where "the tradition of story sharing (vs telling) restores justice in affirming one's experience and reflecting back narratives that open spaces for all of us to exist." In her free time she volunteers as a videographer for Women's Mosque of America and guest teaches filmmaking workshops for youth and POC owned businesses. She has been featured in projects published in Muslimgirl.com, LA Times, KCET, Frontline, Columbia University and the University of Michigan. In 2017, I directed a music video addressing the gap in representation of American Latinx Muslims for MuslimGirl.com. In 2018, She was accepted to a WOC Animation Conference at Cartoon Network, which led to development for a roundtable series that addresses racial trauma in children through representation gaps. In 2019, she was accepted to the Respectability fellowship, Sundance’s Collab TV Writing Course), and the Women in Film Mentorship program (under the guidance of Kat Candler and Ghen Laraya Long). In 2020, she was accepted to MPAC and Practice Wonder Screenwriting Lab, was a finalist for Sundance’s Episodic Lab, and semi-finalist for WIF/Black List Feature Residency. Shireen is the proud of co-parent to her two nieces. | Spanish, English | shireen@blueveilfilms.com | @shireenalihaji Instagram @justaddrosewater Instagram | |
52 | Nasreen Alkhateeb | Drama, Grounded Sci-Fi, Coming of Age, Horror | Writer/Director (10yrs DP) | East of the River (EP) Heartbeat of a Movement (Director) Apollo 7 (Director) Reaching for Mondesty (Director) Flesh for Fantasy (Director) Defragment (Director) Reach (Director) | Grounded Sci-Fi Feature, 1/2 hour Coming of Age Drama about survivng high school. Available Upon Request | Nasreen Alkhateeb is an award-winning director, who has dedicated the last 10 years creating content that amplifies underrepresented voices. Raised in Saudi Arabia and Washington DC, an LGBTQ multi-heritage woman of color, with an acquired disability after being hit by a car, and a survivor of the gulf war, Nasreen has a plethora of lenses she sees the world through. Both Black and Iraqi, she is constantly translating these worlds, with one foot on three continents. In 2019, her film East of the River screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, and she directed two campaigns for NASA and Women’s March. In 2018, she directed the first 50th year anniversary film for NASA’s Apollo Program. In 2016, Nasreen was awarded Cinematographer of the Year by NASA for her work in Greenland. By illuminating chronic illness, melting ice in the arctic, boxing to uplift marginalized youth, farming communities surviving active conflict zones, women peacekeepers in war, and the school to prison pipeline, Nasreen thrives as a leader on diverse storytelling projects. | English, Arabic | nasreen@allmediastorytelling.com | https://allmediastorytelling.com @ContentDirector Instagram. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5544212/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 | |
53 | Serena Rasoul | Comedy, Animated, Historical Drama | Actress/Writer | Honorable Mention in Screenwriting Staffing Competition | Not to Burst Your Bubble - Comedy, Aleesa and the Fluffy Chicken -Animated, The First University - Historical Drama | Serena Rasoul is a Muslim, Palestinian-American Actress and Writer. She started her training taking classes in the Department of Drama at the University of Virginia. After graduating, she continued her studies at the Theater Lab, School for Dramatic Arts in Washington DC. She is known for her funny accents and impressions and has dabbled in performing stand-up at various venues across DC--where she also belonged to a local improv group. She recently, founded Muslim American Casting, a casting agency that seeks to cast and advocate for Muslim and SWANA talent in the TV/Film and Commercial industries. She holds a Masters and two Bachelors degrees. She speaks Arabic, Spanish and English. | Arabic, Spanish, English | serenarasoul@gmail.com | @iamserenara @muslimcasting | |
54 | Dana Attari | TV Drama | Writer/Unstaffed yet | Leaving Little Arabia - The story of an Arab American girl in the OC, who bucks tradition and her family’s wishes when she secretly changes her major from Engineering to a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. (1 hr drama). The Architect - In the early 1900’s, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright struggles to overcome public ridicule, personal tragedy and private demons, to realize his artistic vision. (1hr drama) | Dana Attari is an Arab American screenwriter based out of Los Angeles. Born in Amman Jordan, she spent half her life in the Middle East before moving to Panama City, Florida. Weirdly enough, she took to that bastion of spring break like a fish to water, and straddling two very different cultures has been a driving force in her storytelling ever since. She studied theatre, acting and photography before realizing that writing was her medium of choice. Her feature-length screenplay Madaba (formerly known as Old Guard) was a finalist in the 2019 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab. | English (native), Arabic (spoken) | danaattari@gmail.com | |||
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